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Exploring the Quality of Anticoagulant Prescribed for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation at the St John of God Hawkesbury District Health Centre, New South Wales, Australia

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Abstract
Background: Limited data are available on the clinical management of atrial fibrillation (AF) and its outcomes from an Australianperspective. Objective: To describe the appropriateness of antithrombotic prescribing for patients who presented with adiagnosis of AF to the Hawkesbury St John of God Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. Methods: This retrospectiveobservational study reviewed patients admitted to St John of God Hawkesbury Hospital with AF between June 2016 and June2017. We calculated stroke risk using the CHA2DS2-VASc score based on medical records and reviewed the appropriateness oforal anticoagulant (OAC) prescribing compared to the 2016 European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Patients were excluded ifthey had only 1 episode of AF that reverted either spontaneously or upon cardioversion without any documented recurrences.Results: A total of 200 patients (18 years) were included, with 180 (90%) deemed eligible for anticoagulation. Of these 72.8% (n ¼131) were prescribed an OAC. A total of 40.0% of patients at low risk of stroke and 68.4% at intermediate risk were prescribed anOAC, respectively. Apixaban was the direct OAC of choice with 36.6% of patients prescribed an OAC receiving apixaban.Warfarin was prescribed for 25.1% of the patients who were prescribed an OAC. Conclusions: The underutilization ofanticoagulant medication in high-risk groups and over utilization in low-risk groups remains an ongoing issue in contemporary AFmanagement, and it highlights the need to improve AF-related stroke prevention in our jurisdiction.
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | Wertheimer, G and Bereznicki, LR |
Keywords: | AF, anticoagulants |
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology and therapeutics |
Publisher: | Churchill Livingstone Inc. |
ISSN: | 1074-2484 |
DOI / ID Number: | 10.1177/1074248418786264 |
Copyright Information: | Copyright The Author(s) 2018 |
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Item Statistics: | View statistics for this item |
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